Tag Archives: Carl Crawford

This is the first day of the MLB-promoted “Players Weekend,” so the uniforms are going to look a little different and the names on their backs may look a lot different.

The Brewers send RHP Chase Anderson (7-2, 2.83 ERA) to the mound to face the Dodgers’ Kenta Maeda ((11-5, 3.88 ERA). This will be Anderson’s second start since coming back from the DL for a left oblique strain. In his first one he went five innings and gave up only one run while striking out four Rockies. Maeda has a 3.09 ERA in his four August starts and is 7-2 in his last 10 starts.

This day in Dodgers’ history:

1979 In a Hollywood Stars vs. the Media game played at Dodger Stadium, Robin Williams, the star of the hit television series Mork and Mindy, a show in which he plays an alien, runs the bases backwards. The comedian explains circling the bags clockwise is very common on the Planet Ork, his character’s home in the universe.

1995 At Veterans Stadium, Gregg Jefferies hits for the cycle when Philadelphia crushes the Dodgers, 17-4. The Phillies’ first baseman, who has four RBIs and scores four runs, collects all of his extra-base hits off of LA starting pitcher Hideo Nomo.

2008 After being swept in a four-game series earlier in the month in L.A., the Phillies return the favor, beating the Dodgers, 5-0, to complete its own four-game sweep. It is the first time in franchise history that Philadelphia has swept the Dodgers in a four-game series at home.

2009 With a 5-4 win in ten innings over the Dodgers, the Rockies move 18 games over .500 for the first time in franchise history. The wild-card leader, winning 52 of their last 74 games, the latest on a Troy Tulowitzki bases-loaded single, has cut LA’s Western Division lead from 15.5 games on June 3 to just two games.

2012 In nine-player blockbuster trade, the Dodgers obtain Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, Nick Punto, and cash considerations for James Loney, Allen Webster, Ivan De Jesus, Jr., and two players to be named later (Rubby De La Rosa and Jerry Sands). The deal gives the new Dodgers ownership an opportunity to show their fans they are serious about making a run for the postseason, while giving an under-performing Boston team more financial flexibility in the offseason.

The Braves send righthander Matt Wisler (2-5, 3.16 ERA) out to face the Dodgers’ Scott Kazmir (4-3, 4.38 ERA). Wisler’s last two starts were quality ones, but he did give up six runs combined in them. He’s 2-1 with a 1.86 ERA on the road this season. This is his second big league season, both with the Braves. They got him in the Craig Kimbrel/Upton Jr. deal with the Padres last spring.

This is almost unbelievable. Kazmir has made 282 starts in the big leagues and has never faced the Braves. Yes, up until this season he had only pitched in the AL, but there’s been interleague play for quite a while now; you’d think at some point along the way his team would have played Atlanta. Huh.

The Dodgers designated Carl Crawford for assignment and brought Austin Barnes up from AAA. Vin speculated on the radio that Crawford might just retire, as poorly as his body has served him over the last few years.

Ross Stripling makes his debut against the most bitter rival the Dodgers have in the rival’s home park. Welcome to the big leagues, kid! He’ll face Matt Cain, who’s fallen from previous stardom due to elbow and forearm injuries to the #5 starter’s spot in the Giants’ rotation (which is still better than Tim Lincecum, who hasn’t thrown a pitch since June of last year and is now a free agent, rehabbing from hip surgery).

Puig and Gonzalez have eight and seven hits respectively for the Dodgers in this young season; Seager and Utley have six, Pederson has five. The pitching’s been excellent until Thursday, when not only Wood but the bullpen (saving Louis Coleman, who threw 1 1/3 innings of hitless ball) failed, Wood after four good innings.

Andre Ethier broke his lower leg (the tibia, for the purists) when he fouled a ball off it last Friday. He’ll be out 10-14 weeks. This means in all likelihood that Carl Crawford will be the Dodgers’ starting left-fielder for the first three months of the season.

That stinks.

So do all these injuries:

pitcher Frankie Montas had a rib removed and was placed on the 60-day disabled list. Brett Anderson suffered a bulging disk and had surgery. Hyun-Jin Ryu’s recovery from shoulder surgery has been slow and he won’t pitch in a spring game. Pitcher Josh Ravin broke his non-throwing left arm in an auto accident. Brandon McCarthy is still recovering from Tommy John surgery. Brandon Beachy (elbow) and Mike Bolsinger (oblique) have had their fifth-starter candidacies derailed by injuries.

Seager sprained his knee almost two weeks ago, but is expected back by Opening Day. Starter Alex Wood missed a start with forearm soreness. Julio Urias was slowed with slight groin tightness. Caleb Dirks never pitched because of a back injury.

Yasmani Grandal missed several games with strained forearms and came out of Monday’s game after aggravating the right one. Alex Guerrero missed a week with a twisted knee. Adrian Gonzalez missed a couple games with a bulging disk in his neck. Howie Kendrick missed a handful of games with a tight groin muscle. Justin Turner has been eased back slowly after offseason microfracture knee surgery. Crawford missed a game last week because of a sore back.

Righty Zach Lee, Los Angeles’ first-round pick in the 2010 Draft out of McKinney High School in Texas, will start for the Dodgers in his major league debut. He’s 7-3 with a 2.36 ERA in 12 starts this season for Triple-A Oklahoma City. Matt Harvey (8-7, 3.19 ERA) will start for the Mets. He’s walked at least four batters in each of his past three starts, two of them losses.

Scott Van Slyke made a heckuva play in the ninth inning of last night’s game:

A-Gon sits, Crawford gets his first start since his return from an extended stay on the DL this season, and Puig gets the day off. Puig’s about seven years younger than Ethier, so you’d think Andre would get the day off instead, but no. Mattingly works in mysterious ways.

Brett Anderson is 5-5 with a 3.17 ERA and he’s making his 19th start of the season for the Dodgers. He hasn’t made that many in a year since he made exactly that number for the As five years ago. He’s been on a pretty good run in his last six starts: he’s allowed three runs or fewer in each of them.

Anderson’s opponent will be fellow lefty Alex Wood, who’s 6-6 with a 3.76 ERA and coming off a horrible last start. He gave up seven earned runs and ten hits in 5 2/3 innings against the Rockies. This is Wood’s third year in the big leagues, all with the Braves. Lifetime he’s 20-20 with a 3.15 ERA.

Carl Crawford comes off the DL today and will be a fourth or fifth outfielder, and he says he’s okay with that.

Right-hander Brandon Beachy makes his second start of the year for the Dodgers after missing all of 2014 with Tommy John surgery and rehabilitation. He went 4 innings and gave up 3 runs in his first outing on July 11, walking 3 and striking out 2. He wasn’t very pleased with his performance:

“I’d like to tell you I feel really accomplished, but in this moment, I didn’t accomplish what I set out to do. I didn’t set out to pitch in a big league game. I set out to dominate a big league game,” he said.

Beachy will face Matt Wisler, who’s pitched well in 4 of 5 starts this season and compiled a 3-1, 3.10 ERA while doing so.

Tidbits: Carl Crawford is expected to be reinstated sometime during the series, which means somebody has to go down to Oklahoma City or get released or designated for assignment.

The Braves are 22nd in MLB in runs scored and 27th in slugging percentage. The Dodgers have a best-in-MLB team fielding percentage of .989 and only 38 errors, fewest in the big leagues.

It’s a battle of righthanders as the D-Backs send out old friend Rubby De La Rosa to face off against Carlos Frias of the Dodgers. De La Rosa was sent to the Red Sox by the Dodgers as part of the trade which brought them Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford two years ago. Arizona acquired him in the off-season, and he’s gone 2-1 with a 4.68 ERA this year in 25 innings over 4 starts. Frias is making his first start of the year for the Dodgers after two relief appearances.

Update: Mark Saxon of ESPN has a discussion of the Dodgers’ bullpen and its management. Three different pitchers have been used in save situations at the MLB level, and it’s the same in the minors: “The Dodgers’ four minor-league affiliates have had a total of 14 pitchers record at least one save.”

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